Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 118: Ultimatum
The ironclad ship continued its voyage. Though the deck was shattered, the structure remained intact. However, the atmosphere aboard was rather peculiar.
This trip had certainly been thrilling—they had actually bombarded the Dragon Princess of the Eastern Sea of Yingzhou. Not only had they seen the princess, but they had also gifted her with two oversized cannonballs!
The soldiers aboard the ironclad ship were brimming with excitement, their morale soaring.
On the other side, Xu Ren was engaged in a conversation with Wei Zhe. It was evident that Ao Qingxue would question Wei Zhe about the incident, and Xu Ren had to ensure that Wei Zhe didn’t say anything out of place. A single misspoken word from Wei Zhe could lead to unimaginable consequences for Anyang.
In this strange atmosphere, the ironclad ship dared not continue its journey through the open sea, especially with several sea patrol yakshas watching from a distance.
They quickly navigated toward the northeastern shore of Anyang, where Wu Peng was already waiting on the beach, waving a flag to signal that everything was ready.
Chang Lin, Xu Ren, Xia Qingqing, Beichen Yuqing, Yan Ze’an, and the others stood at the ship’s bow, surveying the situation ashore. They were about 150 meters from the coast, and the flags and signals on the open ground were clearly visible.
As the ironclad ship approached the shore, spies who had been lurking near the beach finally “discovered the secret.” Upon seeing this unique, entirely white vessel and the high-ranking officials from Anyang aboard, they immediately concluded—there was a secret here, a big secret!
Wu Peng smirked coldly as he glanced behind him and then led his men toward the perimeter to stand guard.
Further in the distance, Yan Zhengqing flew up into the sky and waved in greeting, signaling that all was well.
With approval from Xia Qingqing and Xu Ren, Chang Lin finally shouted excitedly, “Prepare to fire!
First volley, aim the bow at the shore!”
The bow of the ship aligned with the coastline, and one main cannon, four secondary cannons, and twenty gunners sprang into action.
“First volley, fire!”
The four secondary cannons and the main cannon roared in unison. A deafening thunderclap followed, and the immense recoil pushed the ironclad ship back by half a meter, raising three-meter-high waves behind the ship.
In an instant, five cannonballs landed on the ground about two kilometers away.
The main cannon’s shell struck first, exploding with a thunderous boom. Black smoke billowed into the sky, and ten figures were blown away. Before the spies could react, the shells from the four secondary cannons landed, causing another series of explosions, sending dozens of figures flying!
Chang Lin scribbled in his notebook, “Main cannon: high destructive power. Secondary cannons: highly lethal.”
Looking up, Chang Lin issued the next command, “Second volley, same full barrage, maximum elevation.”
After two consecutive volleys, even a fool would realize that this was no treasure trove—it was a death zone! The spies, no longer trying to hide, hastily dismantled their formations and scattered in all directions, desperately trying to escape.
Chang Lin sneered but remained calm and collected, continuing to direct the test. “Third volley, flat trajectory. Also, engage the machine guns for a sweep.”
“Start by raising the gun barrel from a flat trajectory, using an extended bombardment and coverage-style attack.”
“Turn the ship’s bow, with the port side facing the coast, and continue the test from before!” With the port-side bombardment, three more secondary guns were involved.
Then came the starboard side, followed by another round of similar bombardments and tests. After completing the static tests, dynamic tests began, with the ironclad ship accelerating and turning. They tested the firepower, the ship’s structure, the engine—a dizzying series of tests. In the end, Chang Lin, the newly appointed admiral, could only watch helplessly as Wan Sheng led the engineers in constant adjustments, tests, more adjustments, and more tests.
Of course, while Chang Lin was left standing idle, the shore had already descended into chaos. Over a thousand spies hidden there had prematurely experienced the treatment of a new era. When these spies tried to leave, they found that over ten thousand soldiers had already lined up at the security perimeter, making it impossible to pass through. With no other choice, they could only flee toward the demon clan’s territory.
Although entering the demon clan’s territory was dangerous, staying here would certainly mean death, and it seemed like it would be a particularly brutal one.
Faced with two dangers, they chose the lesser—running away seemed the better option!
This round of testing lasted for five full days, during which countless so-called “technical indicators” were tested.
During these days, Wei Zhe traveled back and forth between the ship and the Dragon Palace multiple times, and the responsibility for bombarding the Dragon Princess did not cause any significant backlash. As for Ao Han, it was said he had continued his “closed-door cultivation.”
However, there was a positive outcome—the Dragon Princess had taken a liking to the powerful ironclad ship and immediately ordered ten of them!
Although Ao Han casually asked for a hundred, it was more for entertainment and shouldn’t be taken seriously. The Dragon Princess, on the other hand, took it seriously and even personally spoke with Xia Qingqing for a while.
“Do people of the sea still need ships? Is there any use for them?” Everyone expressed doubt, but the Dragon Princess was quite generous with her offer—calculating the price based on the ship’s weight, or more precisely, three times the weight of the stainless steel. This was the method that Anyang and the Dragon Palace had consistently used for trading.
After Wei Zhe left, Anyang Prefecture held a grand celebration and immediately sent a letter to report the general situation to Li Xian. However, all letters were now recorded using jade slips. Although using jade slips was exhausting, especially due to the heavy consumption of divine sense, they carried much more information and were more secure.
Aside from informing Li Xian about the successful testing of the ironclad ship, the letter also included future plans—Anyang had its sights set on the southern Luliang County!
Yan Zhengqing’s 10,000 new recruits had already completed their training, and the production of ironclad ships was being expedited. The related technologies had been resolved, and with the assistance of cultivators, two identical ironclad ships were being constructed simultaneously.
With the help of cultivators and the convenience of rune formation technology, the production of new ironclad ships progressed rapidly.
A small issue arose regarding the naming of the ironclad ships. Everyone had their own opinions. In the end, Xia Qingqing made the final decision: the ships would be ranked by the colors of the rainbow—red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple—into seven levels, plus two additional levels, “Heaven” and “Earth,” forming a nine-level system. The specific names of the ships would be left to the admiral, while in military terms, the ships would be uniformly named according to their numbers.
For example, the military designation of the first ironclad ship was “Red No. 1.” Future ships of this level would be named “Red No. 2,” “Red No. 3,” and so on.
When stronger ironclad ships were produced, they would be labeled “Orange No. 1,” “Orange No. 2,” and so on.
This classification method was simple, clear, and easy to remember, which made it very convenient for military deployment. It was immediately adopted.
After more than half a month, Anyang felt that everything was ready. The Red No. 2 and Red No. 3 ironclad ships were nearing completion, and the decision was finally made to take the initiative and strike!
A letter of reprimand, personally drafted by Xia Qingqing and jointly overseen by Xu Ren, Beichen Yuqing, Fang Shijing, and Yan Ze’an, was stamped with the seal of Li Xian, the Eastern Governor of the Great Xia Kingdom, and sent to Zhongshan County in the southwest of Anyang and Luliang County in the south.
The main message was: “It has been more than three months, yet you have still not gone to the capital to meet with the emperor. Zhongshan County’s Governor Shi Chengsong and Luliang County’s Governor Zhao Guoshan, how dare you disregard imperial authority! This is your final ultimatum. Surrender yourselves and come to Anyang within three days to atone for your crimes, or we will exercise the rights of Li Xian, the Eastern Governor of the Great Xia Kingdom!”